VOIP SunRocket Internet Phone Service $199 for 15months = $13.27/month

[GTFan]

Originally posted by: jjm
Thanks to some who offered suggestions on how to clear up the problems I have had. Unfortunately, they do not seem to have helped. We just continue to have to reboot the gizmo at least once each day.

Have you even tried putting the gizmo behind the router, or are you just going to give up without doing so? You most likely will not have to reboot it everyday, and it will most likely work fine unless you have a flaky net connection, router, or gizmo. But you won't know until you try. You won't have problems with your net connection if the gizmo is behind the router unless you have an IP address conflict (unlikely if you didn't mess with the gizmo) or a router that doesn't play well with VOIP (a good possibility).

If you're not sure to do this, here goes:
Unplug your modem, gizmo, and router, and wait a couple of minutes.
Disconnect the gizmo from the modem and router, and connect your router's WAN port to the modem.
Then plug in the modem and wait for it to sync up with your ISP.
Then plug in the router and make sure that your net connections through it from your PC's work fine. If not, wait a little longer, power cycle your router and try again. It sometimes takes a while to get the modem to renew your IP address with a different device connected to it.
Finally, connect the gizmo's WAN port (not LAN) to a free LAN port on your router and make sure the voice light comes on.

You've repeatedly said that you don't have time to fool with it but you've had plenty of time to come here lately and complain about it. What have you tried?

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: GTFan

Originally posted by: jjm
Thanks to some who offered suggestions on how to clear up the problems I have had. Unfortunately, they do not seem to have helped. We just continue to have to reboot the gizmo at least once each day.

Have you even tried putting the gizmo behind the router, or are you just going to give up without doing so? You most likely will not have to reboot it everyday, and it will most likely work fine unless you have a flaky net connection, router, or gizmo. But you won't know until you try. You won't have problems with your net connection if the gizmo is behind the router unless you have an IP address conflict (unlikely if you didn't mess with the gizmo) or a router that doesn't play well with VOIP (a good possibility).

If you're not sure to do this, here goes:
Unplug your modem, gizmo, and router, and wait a couple of minutes.
Disconnect the gizmo from the modem and router, and connect your router's WAN port to the modem.
Then plug in the modem and wait for it to sync up with your ISP.
Then plug in the router and make sure that your net connections through it from your PC's work fine. If not, wait a little longer, power cycle your router and try again. It sometimes takes a while to get the modem to renew your IP address with a different device connected to it.
Finally, connect the gizmo's WAN port (not LAN) to a free LAN port on your router and make sure the voice light comes on.

You've repeatedly said that you don't have time to fool with it but you've had plenty of time to come here lately and complain about it. What have you tried?

FWIW the Gizmo in front/behind doesn't solve all of the problems. I had my gizmo in front of and behind my router and the only difference is I didn't have intermittent 'net drops with it behind. I still had issues with call forwarding, dropped calls, missed calls (fast busy), and total outages (no voice light).

So far with the Vonage device in front of my router I haven't had a 'net drop. I've had a ping test running to my ISP's DNS server and not a single timeout since around 7pm. This was not the case with SunRocket's Gizmo in front.

 

[Samus]

I signed up last week, I'm very happy with it. I'm considering investing in this company as soon as they go public.

 

[Kazuo]

Regarding their rewards service, don't hold your breath on getting anything. The website said that I had enough points to get a $25 Best Buy card. So I try to order one and get a website error. So I try again, another website error. When I go to try again some time later, it says I've been charged 50 points and now am in negative. So I try contacting the webmaster to see if there's any way to cancel built into the website, etc., and no reply. I tried contacting member services about it too, and no reply from them either. Tried calling them and gave up after being on hold for over 20 minutes.

For a company that claims to have excellent customer service, I am pissed. And to top it all off, after 3 months, I didn't even receive the card I earned!

I'm probably gonna cancel my Sunrocket account just on the principle of the thing. If you have a landline to receive calls, Skype is better for calling out anyway.

 

[GTFan]

Originally posted by: RoborFWIW the Gizmo in front/behind doesn't solve all of the problems. I had my gizmo in front of and behind my router and the only difference is I didn't have intermittent 'net drops with it behind. I still had issues with call forwarding, dropped calls, missed calls (fast busy), and total outages (no voice light).

Duh. But all he's complained about is rebooting the gizmo because it's interfering with his net connection.

 

[czech09]

What are the international rates? I'd use that more than long distance calling...I call internationally very often and regular rates suck...If anyone knows lmk. Thanks.

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: czech09
What are the international rates? I'd use that more than long distance calling...I call internationally very often and regular rates suck...If anyone knows lmk. Thanks.

They vary I think depending on where you call. Let me see if I can dig up a chart.

SunRocket International Rates

Don't forget that the first $3 worth of international calls you make each month is free, as well, and if you sign up under the new promotion you also get $100 worth of free international calls. I'd say, if you're not currently a customer, and are considering it, for that alone it'd be worth it to pick up and try out. If you actually use that, figure $199/year for the service, minus the $136 saved in international calling, and more if you factor in how much more expensive it is on a regular phone.

You'd be making out like a bandit.

EDIT: The $3/month won't stack, so it would be $100 and not $136. Still amounts to phone service for $99/year.

 

[georgepa]

GTFan-

"You've repeatedly said that you don't have time to fool with it but you've had plenty of time to come here lately and complain about it. What have you tried?"

LMAO. Now there is a bingo moment.

Kazo-

Reward retrieval generally works quite well. I am maxed out now, but referrals never gave me a problem when I was able to use them. Perhaps your issue was related to a web glitch of some kind. Bottom line is that it is simple to call them and have the 50 points put back on if they have gotten lost. There is also a chance that it went through properly and your Best Buy card is in the works, which is why your points have been removed from your account. Just because you got a website error does not mean that your order did not work. The system obviously removed your points for some reason, so it could just be that it all went through and you just have to wait for the Best Buy gift card to show up.

I would probably give them a call just to make sure. I am not sure what the webmaster is, there is no such person on Sunrocket's site. For CS 20 minute wait times are nothing to get bent out of shape over. Just call them from your SR phone and put the speakerphone on until someone comes on the line. You can go about your business, so you are not "really" holding and waiting. They'll be able to take care of the issue for you without any type of delay or problem. You may find that it actually shows as having been credited properly upon your order. If not they'll give you your credit back because of the web refresh issue you had.

 

[bostonkarl]

czech09, SR international rates appear to be quite competitive. Folks have claimed to be able to get $6 free international per month by using the contacts page with their regular and signature numbers (thereby getting $3 for each number). I've personally not done this because I rarely place international calls, but it is something to try if you go with the service.

jjm, I feel your pain. SR for some folks does't pass the family test 'cause it ends up too "fiddley", for lack of a true technical term. Perhaps after this last firmware push things will settle down. At this point I only use SR as outgoing, due to reliability concerns. It supplements my cell phone during the early evening; I also use the call forwarding feature to place the occasional long distance personal call from work (local call to home which is forwarded anywhere I please). Given this, a more limitted plan, say 500 minutes, from a reliable provider with a working failover and simul-ring might be a better option.

 

[georgepa]

Like Astrofan stated, it is hard to beat Sunrocket for international call rates. I make a lot of international calls, but since I have been a customer for a while I can't take advantage of the new $100 international call promotion yet until renewal time.

If you think about it:

A new customer looking to sign up with VOIP to save on international rates pays $199.00
for a year's worth of service and gets back $136.00 in international call allowance. So, base price for the service, which includes unlimited local and long-distance within the US and Canada, a free ATA phone adapter and includes all fees and taxes, goes down to $63.00 for the year. That is $5.25 per month for unlimited local and long-distance service within the US and Canada and extremely low international rates (as per Astrofan's link.)

BTW, I don't give a horse's behind if someone here considers my above paragraph "Advertising Speak." If one makes a lot of international calls the current promotion brings SR's price down to $5.25 per month. That deserves to be pointed out, even though some thin-skinners may object because the service just didn't work out for them.


So, let's recap:


1. Sunrocket works for most, but not all. As ridefree pointed out, everybody sees this service (and typically really anything) the way they personally want to see it, based on expectations, use, patterns, etc. What works for one may not work for another. Someone who barely uses the home phone and never, ever makes long-distance calls, may be better off with a sparse local service with limited minutes for $5.95 from a provider like Broadvoice, even if you have to spend $50 or so to buy your own ATA adapter.

2. Sunrocket is the only VOIP (at least for US customers) that gives you, completely free of charge, everything you need to try out VOIP, from the adapter to free shipping to taxes paid to an absolutely free 31-day trial AND a return shipping label to ship the adapter back free of charge if it doesn't "feel right." You don't pay one dime, from start to finish. You don't even need to own a computer. The only thing required is access to a high-speed internet connection. For your troubles of trying out the service you get to keep the free phone system. The free phone promotion may run out eventually, so the above kudos towards Sunrocket as being the only consumer VOIP provider to allow for a completely free 31-day trial with the possibility of not spending a single, solitary dime on the service itself or on the adapter if it turns out to not be a good fit, is not inclusive of the "sweet" phone deal. Consider it a bonus at this point.

(Definition of consumer VOIP has been well discussed in this place, but just to refresh, consumer VOIP=Service that uses ATA phone adapter to connect standard cordless or corded phones, one receives a standard local phone number with the option to port the existing number over and allows for incoming and outgoing calls to and from any landline, cell or VOIP phone.)

3. With the latest promotion those making regular international calls find that the call allowance brings the actual cost of basic Sunrocket service down to $5.25 per month. For that monthly price one receives unlimited calling, local as well as long-distance, anywhere in the United States and Canada. Of course, once your $11.33 monthly call allowance for international is used up low international rates apply. Keep in mind that new customers have to choose whether they want the free Uniden phones promotion or the $100 in additional int'l calls promotion. Those with very light international calling patterns may still choose to go with the free phones promotion. Those who have higher international call minutes demand or already have invested in a very nice phone system may opt for this new promotion.

 

[czech09]

Dang I wish they had service in Tampa blah...oh well I think we're going to go with Vonage until these guys get their acts together heh...

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: GTFan

Originally posted by: RoborFWIW the Gizmo in front/behind doesn't solve all of the problems. I had my gizmo in front of and behind my router and the only difference is I didn't have intermittent 'net drops with it behind. I still had issues with call forwarding, dropped calls, missed calls (fast busy), and total outages (no voice light).

Duh. But all he's complained about is rebooting the gizmo because it's interfering with his net connection.

Uh, my point is by putting it behind the router isn't a magical solution and may introduce other problems. Also, when you call SunRocket for support they want your Gizmo in front of your router - I know, I've called enough.

FWIW, so far my Vonage device has not interferred with my 'net connection and it's in front of the router (as recommended by Vonage). With the Gizmo in place I get timeouts within an hour of putting it in front. Bad Gizmo? Maybe, but why did I spend literally hours on tech support calls and never get a replacement even after asking?

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: czech09
Dang I wish they had service in Tampa blah...oh well I think we're going to go with Vonage until these guys get their acts together heh...

They don't have service in Tampa? Are you sure about that? The reason I say that is I'm pretty sure George here is from Tampa.

That said, I'd go with Vonage anyway. I had SunRocket and switched due to problems and poor tech support. So far (first day experience) Vonage has been head and shoulders above SunRocket. No connection problems, call quality (my side and caller side) is better, and in/out CallerID worked right out of the box.

 

[lazarus000]

Franken-thread...





the thread that will never die :laugh:

 

[czech09]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: czech09
Dang I wish they had service in Tampa blah...oh well I think we're going to go with Vonage until these guys get their acts together heh...

They don't have service in Tampa? Are you sure about that? The reason I say that is I'm pretty sure George here is from Tampa.

That said, I'd go with Vonage anyway. I had SunRocket and switched due to problems and poor tech support. So far (first day experience) Vonage has been head and shoulders above SunRocket. No connection problems, call quality (my side and caller side) is better, and in/out CallerID worked right out of the box.

It is available in Tampa, just not where I live though (or at least when I put the area code and my first 3 digits of my phone number it said it was unavailable 813 973-xxxx). Vonage will be fine I don't call in the US much so I'll just go with the $15/month and the international rates are still great compared to Verizon's...

 

[georgepa]

czech-

I am in the same calling area you are in (973 - New Tampa, Bruce B. Downs corridor.) It is available here. When you sign up just use the 283 exchange. Porting my 973 number over was no problem. A neighbor decided to just go with the new 283 exchange he got from Sunrocket because his 973-xxxx number got too many junk calls from local mortgage companies and pool services.

Assuming that your international calls are primarily into the Czech Republic if you sign up for the service with the $100 int'l promotion you would get $11.33 in international minutes per month. To that country at 5cts. per minute that would be 226 minutes that are included with your service every month.

 

[jjm]

GTFan, your inference is not correct:

"You've repeatedly said that you don't have time to fool with it but you've had plenty of time to come here lately and complain about it. What have you tried?"

You will notice that I typically post once a day or less, precisely because I have little time for this. SR is one theoretically hot deal I have actually tried, so I have posted my thoughts about it. In the meantime, I also posted observations about some over-the-top compliments that I thought readers should temper if they are considering this a hot deal.

At this point, I really do not care to struggle with SR anymore, but I will contribute my experiences hoping they will be useful to others.

I already acknowledged that I tried some of the things people were suggesting, and, since you really need me to spell it out for you, yes I did move the gizmo around. So far, yesterday and today, we have not had problems, but the gizmo is back where it was. I thanked all for suggestions, but I offer a specific thanks to you for your suggestion, if that's what you are looking for.

Having to fiddle with moving the gizmo around is yet another reason why some (myself included) think that SR is not a hot deal. It's just another reason to add to the list of annoyances.

Not sure why you feel compelled to compete for my attention, but there you have it. Just for the record, I am leaving the office soon and will not be back on the net until tomorrow. So don't be dismayed if I don't respond to you sooner than that, should you post something else for me.

 

[tanman]

Originally posted by: Kazuo
Regarding their rewards service, don't hold your breath on getting anything. The website said that I had enough points to get a $25 Best Buy card. So I try to order one and get a website error. So I try again, another website error. When I go to try again some time later, it says I've been charged 50 points and now am in negative. So I try contacting the webmaster to see if there's any way to cancel built into the website, etc., and no reply. I tried contacting member services about it too, and no reply from them either. Tried calling them and gave up after being on hold for over 20 minutes.

For a company that claims to have excellent customer service, I am pissed. And to top it all off, after 3 months, I didn't even receive the card I earned!

I'm probably gonna cancel my Sunrocket account just on the principle of the thing. If you have a landline to receive calls, Skype is better for calling out anyway.

I was able to used the 20 points they gave me towards Amazon. I didn't have enough for the 25 but was able to use Amazon twice and both return me the promotion code.

 

[GTFan]

I certainly don't care about getting your attention. I just think it's wrong to come here and blast the service, say that you don't have time to fool with it when anyone offers suggestions, don't offer to show what you've tried (if anything), and leave.

Let's all repeat again: VOIP is not for everyone, and SR VOIP even less so. For most people it's plug-and-play, but for others it can be a hassle. In exchange for a cheap deal, however, you have to be willing to put up with some downtime and (possibly) be able to do your own troubleshooting. This includes asking for help here or elsewhere, actually trying different things and reporting results, not just throwing up your hands when it doesn't work. If you gave it your best shot (and SR was no help), then that's the best you can do.

We can all agree that it's sad that this is the case, but SR still has a ways to go to play with the big boys. However, if you want no-hassle service from Vonage (maybe), be prepared to pay almost twice as much as you pay for SR, and you will still have the occasional outage. POTS is more reliable (usually) but you will pay way more than twice as much for the same features.

Sorry to see you give up even though help was offered, but you appear to not be a good candidate for this service anyway. Folks like Robor actually gave it their best shot, but he apparently had time to mess with it. You might want to go with Vonage, but I'm thinking POTS is where you need to be.

 

[georgepa]

GTFan-

At $199.00 you are looking at $16.58 per month. If you can use the intl. call promotion they have for $100 and max your int'l call allowance out, true service cost is at $5.25 per month. If instead you get the 2 phones and can use them, they present about a $60 value, so your adjusted cost for the first year is $11.58 per month. Again, even with that, if you use the standard $3 call allowance for international, you are at $8.58 per month. So, for a new customer going with either promotion true monthly cost is either $5.25 or $8.58, alternatively $11.58 if not a single minute of international calls are used.

Vonage? Depends on whether you need a signature line or not. For me it is a must (wife.) So you are looking at $24.95 for the base service plus fees and such = $27.10 per month. Setup fee, shipping, etc. comes to around $48.00. So, for the first year you are talking $27.10 plus $4 monthly (setup, taxes, shipping) for $31.10. Big difference between $31.10 and $11.58 in the "best case" (for Vonage) scenario. Add a signature line to the Vonage thing and you add $7.45 to come up with a total of $38.55 per month.

BTW, Sunrocket customer service has been moved away from CallTech to a new partner over this past weekend. I had talked to an SR engineer about a month and a half ago and he told me that they are not happy with CallTech, so they were going to fire them as soon as training of the new staff was done. The new customer service company is based in the Philippines. The first impression from a gizmo related call on Tuesday was very positive, but one call is not enough for a true assessment. Either way, if someone has open tickets or issues I would probably call SR customer service and see if they have it on their waiting list. There is a chance that things got testy between CallTech and Sunrocket when SR fired them, so records may be slow to be transferred. Best to call again. Besides, the system is now different anyway. I asked the customer service rep about Level 3 tech support and was told that if I had an issue that required advanced tech help that he would connect me to someone in that department. No callback from Level 3, no tickets, just direct connect. If that is indeed true, anyone waiting for a callback from a Level 3 tech may want to call again and see if the issue can be resolved on the spot now.

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: georgepa
Even though CallPacket does not require a credit card it does require an investment, actually monetarily a significant one. CallPacket requires either the purchase of an ATA or a computer with a headset. There is definite investment any way one slices it. As said before, you are misrepresenting here, and it makes you definitely look like a troll.

Sorry but there's some twisting going on here... Why exactly would you have a broadband internet connection if you don't have a computer? Or are you trying to claim that you would only be able to use that computer for telephone calls? So that "signifigant" investment is a pair of headphones? I've got a couple in storage, I'm heading off to ebay to make some "signifigant" dough off them.

 

[Pothead]

lol

 

[Robor]

I have some good news and a confession...

I can assure all of the current and future SunRocket customers that the service and support will be nothing short of outstanding. Why? Because I signed up for Vonage. In short, I was the jinx, the cause of all the problems. I ported my Verizon number over and that's when the outages started. It's the same as the year I selected Jerry Rice in Fantasy Football and he went down in the 1st quarter of the 1st game. I'm the kiss of death. I'm sorry for all the troubles everyone.

Should I should warn the Vonage customers...?

 

[georgepa]

No, the twisting is going on from the other end. I made a remark that with SR you can try it out without a single dime's worth of investment, the only VOIP provider that does not require any type of investment. One person here acted as if that were incorrect. Of course, it isn't. So, the twisting going on here is that ATA adapters may not be a significant investment, or one has them already "laying around somewhere." Or that headphones are something everybody has. Are you implying that you can use standard stereo headphones with this? That is incorrect. You actually need a headphone/microphone set. To use with VOIP you need to purchase a rather powerful headphone/microphone combo. If you are using a laptop a standard microphone/headset combination (plugging into the sound ports) would not work in most cases, as laptops typically don't have a full duplex sound card. So, a USB phone or USB headphone/microphone set has to be purchased. The investment to try out one of the other services is significant (at least around $30 for something decent.) Besides, are we now comparing SKYPE, a peer-to-peer service with services like Sunrocket and Vonage?

 

[bostonkarl]

.ed You know, it just isn't worth the effort

And it just isn't worth it a response. The hyper-promoter types will just keep on and on and on... Like an endless, tortuous infomercial. I suppose it gives them a purpose in life or something.

A savvy shopper *and that's why we're here* will do their homework and not listen to one or two vocal posters. The best place to looks is over at the well regarded dslreports (www.dslreports.com).

Have a great evening, everyone.